HOW STUDENTS VALUE A GOOD COORDINATION AT UNIVERSITIES

In this work we present the results of a survey performed in representative samples of students of three big size public universities in Madrid, Spain about student's perceptions of the quality of coordination in their Universities.

Change cannot occur only through changing formal structures, new structures will not be embraced or sustained unless the assumptions that underlie them are identified and questioned (Fletcher, Bailyn, Blake-Beard 2009), but need ‘discursive’ or ‘relational’ space for identifying and questioning the current organizational assumptions (Fletcher, Bailyn, Blake-Beard 2009; Kellogg 2009).

Goal is to identify and commit to shared goals based on a new compact with the organization and with each other and this can improve relational coordination.

The conclusion to be drawn from this work is: a good coordination is critical to any organizational system.

Relational coordination is a model posed by communication, shared goals and shared knowledge as a basis for any system who wants to achieve excellence.

It is true that for all that a group of resources and structures are needed, but although we have them, if there is not a good organization, it is not going to help much.

The conclusion that can be reached by analyzing the results of the questionnaires offered and collected from the three universities studied, the URJC, the UCM and the UC3M, is that globally speaking the UC3M shows higher percentages on relational coordination. Their students qualify rated the quality of teaching, communication with the various organs of the university, troubleshooting and overall satisfaction. On the other hand, both the UCM and URJC in percentages, in general, are below average in almost all variables that have been questioned, especially those dealing with their relationship with management staff, faculty and student representation.

With this information we can verify that the University with a strategic plan focused on good coordination and better academic results, is also the one in which students feel more satisfied. UC3M students do not see much difference between the need for communication and real communication, feel more supported when they encounter a problem, they consider that they are respected by the rest of the organs that make up the University, and they believe that they all share the same targets.

Because of all this we think that if we reach a level of excellence in the Upper Education, we should not only bet on new infrastructure, new teachers, training content, etc.., But we must rely on the foundations of a good coordination. Probably because all the organs that make up the University are fully competent individual, just need to organize them properly and have a common goal: to ensure a good education.